10 reasons to watch UFC 231, starting with two of the highest caliber title fights

5. That’s progress

Nina Ansaroff has turned things around over the past year. Her reward for that is what looks like the toughest fight of her career. Ansaroff (8-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) is on a 3-0 run after coming back from a year-long break in January 2017. She puts her unbeaten streak on the line against former UFC women’s strawweight title challenger Claudia Gadelha (16-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) at UFC 231.

Ansaroff, who is the fiancee of women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, has often cited Nunes as the driving force behind her resurgence.

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“Man, for her last three fights, she’s called me out, telling everybody that I’m the next champion,” Ansaroff said after UFC Fight Night 103 win over Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger. “It’s a little bit of pressure, but she believes in me. I know what I’m capable of. She does too. And it only motivated me to get the win tonight.”

That belief and her winning streak have Ansaroff ranked No. 14 in the 115-pound division. If she can extend her streak to four straight with a victory over the No. 4 ranked Gadelha, who is coming off a split-decision win over ex-champ Carla Esparza, she could find herself in the discussion as a potential title challenger. That’s a far cry from four years ago when Ansaroff was mulling the end of her MMA career.

This fight will also be a test for Gadelha. This bout is her first fight since she underwent surgery to repair a knee she damaged before the Esparza matchup

6. Ground fighters turned strikers

Things often don’t work out when a jiu-jitsu ace begins to think they are a striker. That hasn’t been the case with Gilbert Burns. Burns, who is an accomplished submission artist, recently found his striking game. That discovery paid off with knockout wins over Jason Saggo and Dan Moret. Burns’ aggressive striking game cost him in his most recent outing. Dan Hooker knocked him out in that contest. Burns (13-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) meets Olivier Aubin-Mercier (11-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) at UFC 231 in a lightweight scrap.

Like Burns, Aubin-Mercier is mostly known for his ground game, but it was his striking that got things done for him in April when he stopped Evan Dunham with two well-placed knees to the body. Aubin-Mercier was unable to capitalize on that momentum. He dropped a unanimous decision to Alexander Hernandez in July.

It will not be a surprise if these two decide to throw caution to the wind and get after it on the feet knowing that they can fall back to their ground game if things go sideways in the striking department.